During the past week, we have seen news items on the exceptionally cold weather prevailing across Europe. In many
places temperatures have hit record low. This naturally poses severe problems in
areas that do not normally face such harsh conditions. More than 200 deaths resulting
from the cold have already been reported.
The freezing weather is caused by
cold air coming all the way from Siberia and forming a massive swirl of high pressure that has
been hovering over Russia and most of Europe. The eastern and central areas of the
continent are being hit hardest while the Mediterranean and the UK will escape the
worst because travelling over an unfrozen sea is warming the air to some
extent.
However, the freeze-up has already
reached London and Paris and even Rome has now been covered by snow. Snowfall is so rare in these cities that I would have loved to witness it, especially in Rome which is one of my favourites, probably the
favourite. On the other hand, I would most likely have appreciated only the
visual side of it, not the actual experience of seeing how freezing
temperatures affect a Mediterranean country. During our latest visit in
September, it was some +30°C (+86°F), which in turn was exceptionally
warm that late in the autumn.
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| Piazza della Rotonda in Rome on a warm September evening.
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Living in the north has taught us
Finns to get along with arctic conditions. We have been confronting the
Siberian winds for centuries, our houses are designed to withstand them and our
society is well prepared for them. It is unthinkable that our schools, public
transportation or any other public service would be closed because of any kind of weather ever. It would have to be a much more serious event, something totally unexpected,
to stop our society from functioning as usual (perhaps with the exception of
occasional blackouts in the electric power supply as I told in an earlier post).
Nevertheless, there is a downside to
the fact that we as a people are so accustomed to winter and everything it
entails. It means that we take it for granted. We don’t let it disturb us and
carry on in much the same way all year round, perhaps adding a couple of extra
layers of clothing in the winter and that’s it.
Thus when an unusual weather event
takes place, such as the heavy powder-like snowfall we had on Friday on the southern coast,
we do not take notice of it. We do not change our behaviour at all but drive in
the morning rush as close to the next car as in the best of weathers – causing
hundreds of crashes completely jamming the main highways leading to the capital
for most of the day.
I find it hard to understand why this
is repeated here whenever there is zero visibility, which happens if not every
winter at least every few winters. It seems that living in a country where winter
tyres are compulsory from December until February and everything works in all
weathers has made us lose our touch with nature. We have forgotten it cannot
be controlled from inside your warm car in indoor clothing.
Nature should not be taken for
granted. It should be respected with appropriate attention, consideration and
equipment. It feels strange even my fellow countrymen should be reminded that
in winter traffic a simple thing such as proper winter gear may be all you need to save your day.
By the way, right now our thermometer shows -32.2°C (-26°F).
